Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
A Killing Frost by Seanan McGuire Series: October Daye #14
Published by DAW Books on September 1, 2020
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 368
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
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When October is informed that Simon Torquill—legally her father, due to Faerie's archaic marriage traditions—must be invited to her wedding or risk the ceremony throwing the Kingdom in the Mists into political turmoil, she finds herself setting out on a quest she was not yet prepared to undertake for the sake of her future.... and the man who represents her family's past.
A Killing Frost is the fourteenth book in the October Daye series. At book fourteen, you’d think that maybe the story would start to feel flat or I might be losing interest, but you’d be dead wrong. I think each book builds on the others pretty well, with just a few books I felt were filler material along the way. I enjoy this series even more as October’s journeys continue and most of the time I can’t wait to see what kind of trouble she can get into next. This series is for lovers of tales with Fae in them.
Toby’s been engaged to the Tybalt the King of Cats for a few books now and even I’m starting to feel like she is dragging her feet to get to a wedding date. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t really want to get married, it is just means well she might just be a little nervous about it. But when she finds out that according to Fae custom if she doesn’t invite her stepfather to the wedding it could cause great offence and bring back a big bad that she has already thwarted (Fae customs are complicated). Well that just throws a huge wrench into her wedding plans.
You think it would be easy to just invite him. However, he made a deal with the Sea Witch awhile back and has lost his way home. Now Toby needs to go on a quest with her Death Omen sister and Princeling Squire to find a man cursed by the Sea Witch and invite him to her wedding. You thought planning your wedding was complicated.
This is another great adventure through Faery and roads not normally traveled. I love the world that Seanan McGuire has built for this series and how every book is a brand-new adventure. How can you not love a world in which the heroine is friends with the Sea Witch of all people/monsters, engaged to the King of Cats, has her own squire and seems to find some of the coolest characters to be friends with outside of just those. Her perky sense of humor and penchant for destruction make each tale interesting and keeps me guessing.
This is definitely a series that you need to read in order for anything to make sense and I can only say the series gets better over time. I was on the fence about it until about the third book when I became hooked and haven’t looked back since. So if you can handle a little cruelty, because the fae are not sunshine and rainbows, then this could be a good series for you.
“I trust her to be wild and impulsive and bold and self-destructive when it means someone else might be saved. I trust her to be the month she was named for, cold and kind by turns, endlessly storming, so that nothing can stand in her path but risk being blown away. I trust her to be October…”
About Seanan McGuire
Hi! I’m Seanan McGuire, author of the Toby Daye series (Rosemary and Rue, A Local Habitation, An Artificial Night, Late Eclipses), as well as a lot of other things. I’m also Mira Grant (www.miragrant.com), author of Feed and Deadline.
Born and raised in Northern California, I fear weather and am remarkably laid-back about rattlesnakes. I watch too many horror movies, read too many comic books, and share my house with two monsters in feline form, Lilly and Alice (Siamese and Maine Coon).
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wow, fourteen books and still going strong. to me that says a lot about the author
True. I’ve read other series that needed to wrap it all up but this one still has so much to still be resolved or new stories to be told.
Great review. I’ve got this series on my TBR to try. One day!
This series is on my short list for the Read-along next year.
Nice. It could work for that with so many books.
I love this series so much and I didn’t realize that this one was going to be released. Now I can’t wait to read it!
Sometimes it is so hard to keep track of all the series I love. I usually have one of two come out and I forget until after the fact. I’m glad you’ve enjoyed them too.
I have read the first four of these, but then badly fell behind… I want to focus on this series next year, once I’ve caught up with some of the other series I’m working my way through – because I thoroughly enjoyed the ones I’ve read…
And (sorry I pressed the REPLY button by mistake) I want to thank you for reminding me just how good this series is – and reassuring me that the quality stays high throughout:))
Sjhigbee. I hope you find time for it, you made it through the books that were the least interesting to me and have so many great ones left.